Municipal incinerators



, Aug. 10, 1965 slAGEL 3,199,475

MUNICIPAL INCINERATORS Filed March 21, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. HAROLD S/AGEL ATTORNEY, k A

Aug. 10, 1965 s L 3,199,475

MUNICIPAL INCINERATORS Filed March 21, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 H S I08 '07 [F IG. 5 3 ,I |o3 '|o2 muff/s INVENTOR HAROLD SIAGEL ATTORNEY.

Aug. 10, 1965 H. SIAGEL 3,199,475

MUNICIPAL INCINERA'I'ORS Filed March 21, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. HAROLD S/AGEL ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,l9?,4-75 MUNTQTPAL IP ICFNERATGRS Harold Siagel, Granby, Mass, assignor to American Capital @orpcration, llrooldine, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Mar. 21, 1963, Ser. No. 266,971 11 Claims. (Q1. 110-18) This invention relates to an incinerator. In particular it relates to a large scale incinerator such as are used by municipalities.

A conventional municipal incinerator consists of a large building enclosing the furnace. Material to be burned is normally brought in by dump trucks which dump the waste into chutes, conveyors, and other mechanical handling devices which carry the waste up over the wall and then permit it to fall into the furnace. Such installations are costly to build, run and maintain. Further, the entire procedure is slow and inefficient.

One object of this invention is to provide a less costly municipal incinerator with greater efficiency of operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a municipal incinerator which will exhaust little smoke or other noxious fumes into the atmosphere.

Further objectives and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the specification and claims which follow and from the appended drawings wherein FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a right-end view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a vertical section of an uncovered pit 1'7 and the tunnel.

FIG. 6 is a vertical section of the smoke conduit in position on pit 19.

The invention comprises generally at least one and preferably more than one a plurality of open pits. The pits are usually built of concrete and fire brick in the ground or in a raised mound depending on the surface terrain. Adjacent to the pits is an area accessible to refuse vehicles so as to enable them to dump their refuse directly into a selected pit. Below the pits is a tunnel connecting with the outside. The bottom portion of the pits are equipped with means for dumping ash from the pits either into a vehicle in the tunnel which when loaded removes it from the tunnel or into a conveyor system which will bring it out of the tunnel. Adjacent to the top of the pits is a vertical smoke conduit capable of being moved so as to cover a pit. The smoke conduit is equipped with means for forming a closure with the edges of the pit and is also preferably equipped with after-burner means for burning the smoke. Each pit has means for both igniting and quenching, and also preferably for introducing air.

Where a plurality of pits are used, the dump trucks dump into the uncovered pits without any delay. As soon as one loaded pit with the vertical smoke conduit in place has been burned, the conduit is then moved to one of the other pits for firing, permitting the first pit to again be available for dumping. The number of the pits is selected to provide sufficient storage capacity to handle the expected generation of refuse. At the completion of burning, the ash is dropped directly into the ash removal truck or conveyor in the tunnel. The procedure is thus equivalent to a continuous flow process for the handling of combustible rubbish and waste without any of the costly delays occasioned by trucks waiting to unload.

,lfihAtYS Patented Aug. 1Q, 1965 Various designs of after-burners may be used in the invention. Thus, the type illustrated in the drawings rovides flame and air under pressure in the upper portions of the conduit for efficient burning of the smoke. Forced air tubes are also provided, which act as condensers for the particulate matter in the smoke.

The preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings comprises an earthrnound 11 having a flat concrete top surface 12. A roadway 13 leads to the top surface 12. In the center of the mound is the pit structure 14 which comprises a front outer curb 15, and a rear out curb la bounding the right pit 17, the middle pit 1.8, and the left pit 11%. Fits 17 and 18 are separated by a sizable vertical air space 25; pits 13 and 19 are separated by vertical air space 26; and pit 19 is separated from the end curb 29 by vertical air space 27.

A vertical smoke conduit 25 is shown in FIG. 1 in position so as to cover pit 19. The smoke conduit 29 is movable on rails 21 and 22 by means of pairs of wheels 39 and 4t) driven by electric motors 44 and 45.

Below the row of pits 17, 18 and 19, is a tunnel 23 opening into a lower roadway 2d. Trucks 33 and 34 loaded with refuse come up roadway 13 to the top surface 12 and then back up against a curb between apron projections 28 to dump into a pit that is not covered. Ash trucks 35 and 36 pick up the ash from the bottoms of the pits in the tunnel 23. The roadway 2 as shown in the drawings has reinforced sidewalls 31 and 32 adjacent to the right transverse wall 3% of pit 17.

The vertical smoke conduit comprises a base cone section 37 and an intermediate'cylindrical section 52 made of steel lined with refractory material. A narrow cylindrical steel section 53 is mounted on 52. Attached to the base 37 is a frame 38 which holds the wheels and also a hydraulic steel, vertically movable closure on each side. The drawings schematically illustrate closure 41 operated by piston 42 and closure 43 operated by piston 44. The closures seat on the cast-iron caps e.g. 46 and 47 of pit 19. Pit 19 has concrete outer walls 49 with. upper outward projections 49a and 49b, and is separated from the inner fire brick walls 48 by a continuing air space 50.

The various sections of the vertical smoke conduit are reinforced by a framework 51. At the upper portion of the cylindrical section 52 are three transverse, somewhat closely packed, rows of steel tubes 55, with It tubes in each row. Air blower 54 blows air from the atmosphere through tubes 55 and also blows air via pipe 5412 into the bottom portion of the narrow cylindrical section 53 which is composed of an outer shell 56 and an inner wall 57 forming an air space. The air space communicates with the space inside wall 57 through arrays of small inlets 53 and 53a at two levels. The air space between 56 and 57 is capped by cover 61. There is also a pipe 54b from air supply 54 leading to a section having open-end air tubes 63. The top section 62 of the vertical smoke conduit has a cap 64 with holes 64a.

Adjacent the bottom portion of section 52 is an angular conduit 59 which goes up from the interior of 57 to the outside and then back. In the conduit 59 is burner 5% whose flame is fed up to the interior space of 57. Walls 56 and 57 are connected by re-inforcing supports 60.

The details of the pit are exemplified by FIG. 5 which illustrates pit 17, the right curb 16 and the left curb 15, inside of which are left rail 21 and right rail 22. The interior of the pits is shown with left refractory wall 102 and right refractory wall 1020.. The exterior of the pit is composed of concrete walls separated from the refactory walls by a substantially continuous vertical air space. Thus, the left concrete wall 163 is separated by air space 107 from fire brick wall 192. The right concrete Wall 103a is separated by air space 1636 from fire brick wall 102a. The upper portions of each of the concrete walls have outward projections e.g. ltiiib and M30. On the top of the fire brick walls 102 and 192a, are projections 108 and W9 respectively covered by cast iron caps 105 and N4 respectively. The rails 21 and 22 are laid in the space between the fire brick projection, and the concrete projections.

Pit 17 is equipped with movable grate assemblies comprising grate doors 11$, 111, 112, and 113 which supports grates 110a, 111a, 112a and 113a respectively. The grates are hollow and perforated and are connected by a pipe network 115 to a compressed air supply not illustrated. The grate doors with the attached grates are movable downward by means of a hydraulic piston assembly, one of which is illustrated schematically and shown as 114 for door lltl, numeral 114a being the air supply for the assembly.

The network 115 is shown schematically as is also a water supply 116 for quenching the fire. Below the grates are sloping walls illustrated in the drawings as 117 and 118 leading to schematically illustrated sliding doors 119 and 128. Extension of the two outer concrete walls of the pits forms the walls 23b and 230 of the tunnel 23 which also has a concrete floor 230 and drain 23d.

Oil burners 121-126 are schematically illustrated with their nozzles projecting from each corner of a pit.

The supply mechanisms of the air, water, electrical and fuel lines are not illustrated but are generally housed in the large spaces 25, 26, 27 adjacent the pits. The controls for these utilities are not illustrated but it is readily understood that their detail and location is a matter of convenience and choice. Further, the exhaust ends of tubes 55 can be connected to a pit awaiting to be fired in order to use the hot air from the pipes as a preliminary drying stage.

The cycle of use of the air, water and fuel supplies can be varied according to the nature of the refuse and the amount of moisture contained therein and the size of the load. Because of this, no separation of combustibles would ordinarily be required. In addition, the pit can be equipped with pressing means to compact the refuse and rotary agitating means for mixing the refuse, as desired.

Although the drawings show only one movable vertical smoke conduit with three pits, other mombinations can be used depending on the anticipated need. Thus, for example, there can be four pits with one vertical smoke conduit for each two pits. Although a single pit and a single movable vertical smoke conduit can be used in this invention, it is generally preferred for eificiency and economy that there be at least two pits for each movable vertical smoke conduit.

lit is obvious that the dimensions of an installation made in accordance with this invention, would vary in accordance with the anticipated load. However, cornpared with conventional municipal incinerators, the burning capacity is exceedingly high for installations of comparable size.

While the preferred embodiments of my invention have been described in detail, it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the particular construction set forth, since various changes in the form, proportions and arrangements of parts, and in the detail of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, or destroying any of the advantages contained in the same, heretofore described and defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. An incinerator comprising: means forming at least one open pit, a horizontally movable vertical smoke conduit, means for moving said conduit so as to cover said pit, means for forming a seal between the conduit and said pit, means forming an accessible area adjacent said said pit when said pit is uncovered by said conduit, a

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Qt means associated with said tunnel for receiving ash from said pits and removing said ash from said tunnel.

2. An incinerator comprising: means forming at least one open pit, a horizontally movable vertical smoke conduit, means for moving said conduit so as to cover said pit, means for forming a seal between the conduit and said pit, means forming an accessible area adjacent said pit for permitting a vehicle to dump refuse directly into said pit when said pit is uncovered by said conduit, a tunnel below said pits connecting with the outside, and means associated with said tunnel for receiving ash from said pits and removing said ash from said tunnel; said conduit including after-burner means.

3. An incinerator comprising: means forming at least one open pit, a horizontally movable vertical smoke conduit, means for moving said conduit so as to cover said pit, means for forming a seal between the conduit and said pit, means forming an accessible area adjacent said pit for permitting a vehicle to dump refuse directly into said pit when said pit is uncovered by said conduit, a tunnel below said pits connecting with the outside, and means associated with said tunnel for receiving ash from said pit and removing said ash from said tunnel; each said pit including igniting, quenching, and air-feeding means.

4. An incinerator comprising: means forming a plurality of pits, a horizontally movable vertical smoke conduit, means for moving said conduit so as to cover a selected pit, means for forming a seal between said conduit and aid pit, means forming an accessible area adjacent said pit for permitting a vehicle to dumprefuse directly into a selected pit when said pit is uncovered by said conduit, a tunnel below said pits connecting with the outside, and means associated with said tunnel for receiving ash from said pits and removing said ash from said tunnel; said conduit including after-burner means.

5. An incinerator comprising: means forming a plurality of open pits, a horizontally movable vertical smoke conduit, means for moving said smoke conduit so as to cover a selected pit, means for forming a seal between the conduit and said pit, means forming an accessible area adjacent said pits for permitting a vehicle to dump refuse into a selected pit when said pit is uncovered by said conduit, a tunnel below said pits connecting with the outside, and means associated with said tunnel for receiving the ash from said pits and removing said ash from said tunnel; said conduit including after-burner means; each said pit including igniting, quenching and air-feeding means.

6. An incinerator comprising: means forming a plurality of open pits, a horizontally movable vertical smoke conduit, means for moving said smoke conduit so as to cover a selected pit, means for forming a seal between the conduit and said pit, means forming an accessible area adjacent said pits for permitting a vehicle to dump refuse into a selected pit when said pit is uncovered by said conduit, a tunnel below said pits connecting with the outside, and means associated with said tunnel for receiving the ash from said pits and removing said ash from said tunnel; said conduit including after-burner means; each said pit comprising an outer structural wall separated by an air space from an inner heat-resistant wall and including igniting, quenching, and air-feeding means.

7 An incinerator comprising: means forming a plurality of open pits, a horizontally movable vertical smoke conduit, means for moving said conduit so as to cover a selected pit, means for forming a seal between the conduit and said pit, means forming an accessible area adjacent said pits for permitting a vehicle to dump refuse directly into a selected pit when said pit is uncovered by aid conduit, a tunnel below said pits connecting with the outside and constructed so as to permit a vehicle to be positioned below a selected pit, and means for dumping ash from said selected pit into such vehicle.

53. An incinerator comprising: means forming pluraljacent said pits for permitting a vehicle to dump refuse directly into a selected pit when said pit is uncovered by said conduit, a tunnel below said pits connecting with the outside and constructed so as to permit a vehicle to be positioned below a selected pit, and means for dumping ash from a selected pit into said vehicle; said conduit including after-burner means.

9. An incinerator comprising: means forming a plurality of open pits, a horizontally movable smoke conduit, means for moving said conduit so as to cover a selected pit, means for forming a seal between the conduit and said pit, means forming an accessible area adjacent said pits for permitting a vehicle to dump refuse directly into a selected pit when said pit is uncovered by said conduit, a tunnel below said pits connecting with the outside and constructed so as to permit a vehicle to be positioned below a selected pit, and means for dumping ash from a selected pit into said vehicle; said conduit including after-burner means; each said pit including igniting, quenching and air-feeding means.

19. The incinerator of claim 9 wherein each pit comprises an outer structural wall separated by an air-space from an inner heat-resistant wall.

11. The incinerator of claim 3 wherein each said pit is equipped with hollow, perforated grates and said airfeeding means includes an air supply connected to said grates.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 516,706 3/94 Johnson 110'8 889,187 6/08 Ball 12659 X 1,685,939 10/28 Dayton 126-163 X 1,713,718 5/29 Schwabach 110-171 1,729,572 9/29 Evans 110-8 1,986,719 1/35 Evans 110-8 3,076,421 2/63 Spitz 1108 FOREIGN PATENTS 368,180 3/32 Great Britain.

FREDERICK L. MATTESON, JR., Primary Examiner.

JAMES W. WESTHAVER, Examiner. 

1. AN INCINERATOR COMPRISING: MEANS FORMING AT LEAST ONE OPEN PIT, A HORIZONTALLY MOVABLE VERTICAL SMOKE CONDUIT, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID CONDUIT SO AS TO COVER SAID PIT, MEANS FOR FORMING A SEAL BETWEEN THE CONDUIT AND SAID PIT, MEANS FORMING AN ACCESSIBLE AREA ADJACENT SAID PIT FOR PERMITTING A VEHICLE TO DUMP REFUSE DIRECTLY INTO 